The Chicago Cubs began the season with the stated purpose of finding a front-of-rotation starting pitcher.
And, although they’ve been linked to some names via trade and free agency, nothing has come of that pursuit, other than the free agent acquisition of rehabbed lefty starter Matthew Boyd and swing man Colin Rea.
However, the season hasn’t begun and it’s still early enough in spring training to make a big move. The hope of adding an ace-level starter to add to a rotation that already boasts Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, James Taillon, Javier Assad, and Boyd is still there.
Could The Chicago Cubs Target Sandy Alcantara?
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report sees a possibility of the Cubs making that big impact move with Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery after missing all of the 2024 season.
Per Rymer:
“The Marlins aren’t going anywhere in 2025, and Alcantara has plenty of trade value to reclaim.
Alcantara peaked as the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2022, pitching 228.2 innings with a 2.28 ERA. It’s an outlier of sorts, yet this is a pitcher who’s been 30 percent better than average for his whole career.
It’s quite the pedigree to live up to, yet Alcantara should be up to it. He’s more than a year removed from his surgery in October 2023…
Even if Alcantara is merely the pitcher he was in 2023, when he had a 4.14 ERA, he’ll stand to be a valuable trade chip. If he returns to ace form, that much more so.”
Rymer mentions the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves also as prime targets for the Marlins front office, although in-division trades can be fairly rare.
Coming Back From Tommy John
Tommy John surgery is no longer the career death sentence it once was for pitchers. There are many cases of surgery recipients going on to have long, viable careers afterwards, as well as cases where pitchers have multiple reconstructive surgeries. The 29-year-old Alcantara, who unanimously won his NL Cy Young award as a Marlin in 2022, most likely will have plenty of productive career ahead of him.
Entering into the fourth year of a five-year contract, the Cubs would take in just under $56 million in acquiring Alcantara. They’d also have a $21 million club option for 2027.
All in all, that’s a pretty reasonable salary deal for a pitcher with the potential to be a front-of-rotation presence and is no worse than a middle-rotation starter.
Over the course of his career, the right-hander has a 3.32 ERA in 146 big league games (138 starts) and 900.2 innings. In 2023, he posted a 4.14 ERA in 184.2 innings. During his career, he’s earned the reputation of being a workhorse, with an average of just over 204 innings in his four full seasons as a starter prior to his injury.
In his first appearance since his surgery, Alcantara threw a scoreless inning in Sunday’s spring training game against the Mets, maxing out at a very healthy 99.3 mph.
What Will It Take To Get Alcantara?
With the Marlins out of contention before the season even begins and no burning need for a big-ticket front-of-rotation ace right now, the haul expected for Alcantara would probably center around prospects and/or young field-ready major leaguers.
Would outfield prospect Kevin Alcantara (no relation) and someone like Javier Assad or Jordan Wicks be enough to entice the Marlins? Maybe big-hitting top prospect Moises Ballesteros could be dangled rather than Alcantara?
According to reports, the Marlins are in no real hurry to deal Alcantara, who will take the field as one of the team’s few elite-level established talents. But if the right deal comes along, it’s hard to imagine them not listening to it.
The question is whether the Cubs would be willing to offer up that “right” deal.
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